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NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today the results of the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index® (Nasdaq:NDX), which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 20, 2010.

"The NASDAQ-100 Index is increasingly accepted as one of the world's most globally recognized benchmarks, the basis of more than 2200 structured products and 22 exchange-traded funds worldwide," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John L. Jacobs. "This re-ranking ensures the NASDAQ-100 Index's relevance as a global benchmark comprised of the world's most innovative large-cap growth companies that are recognized leaders across a broad range of industries."

The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® and dates to January 1985 when it was launched along with the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index®, which is comprised of the 100 largest financial stocks on NASDAQ®. These indexes act as benchmarks for financial products such as options, futures, and funds. The NASDAQ-100 is re-ranked each year in December, timed to coincide with the quadruple witch expiration Friday of the quarter.

On a cumulative price return basis, the NASDAQ-100 Index has returned 1594% since inception, although past performance is not indicative of future performance.

The NASDAQ-100 Index is the basis of the PowerShares QQQ Trust (Nasdaq:QQQQ) which aims to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond with the NASDAQ-100 Index performance. In addition, options, futures and structured products based on the NASDAQ-100 Index and the PowerShares QQQ Trust trade on various exchanges.

As a result of the re-ranking, the following seven securities will be removed from the Index:

NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is engaged in the design, development, calculation, licensing, and marketing of NASDAQ OMX Indexes. NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group specializes in the development of indexes focusing on NASDAQ OMX's brand themes of innovation, technology, growth, and globalization. NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group also provides custom index services and design solutions as a third-party provider to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit www.nasdaq.com/indexes .

About NASDAQ OMX Group

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with approximately 3,600 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com . Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/nasdaqomx ) and Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx ).To learn more about the criteria for inclusion to the NASDAQ-100, visit NASDAQ-100 Index

Notes to editors:

NASDAQ®, NASDAQ-100®, NASDAQ-100 Index®, NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock® and QQQ® are registered trademarks of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (collectively, with its affiliates "NASDAQ OMX") and are licensed for use by Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC. PowerShares QQQ has not been passed on by NASDAQ OMX as to its legality or suitability, and is not issued or sold by NASDAQ OMX. NASDAQ OMX makes no warranties and bears no liability with respect to Powershares QQQ.

Company Briefs:

The following is brief information on the seven companies to be added to the NASDAQ-100 Index in descending order based on market capitalization as calculated in the NASDAQ-100 Index annual re-ranking review. Securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market that meet the eligibility criteria were ranked by market capitalization using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price (NOCP) as of the end of October and total shares outstanding filed in public SEC documents through the end of November or in the case of American depositary receipts, the information is received from depositary banks.

F5 Networks, Inc., headquartered in Seattle, Washington, had a market capitalization of $9.5 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.F5.com .

Akamai Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had a market capitalization of $9.4 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.akamai.com .

Netflix, Inc., headquartered in Los Gatos, California, had a market capitalization of $9.1 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.netflix.com .

Micron Technology, Inc., headquartered in Boise, Idaho, had a market capitalization of $8.2 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.micron.com .

Ctrip.com International, Ltd is headquartered in Shanghai, China. It's American Depositary Receipts had a market capitalization of $7.6 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.ctrip.com .

Whole Foods Market, Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, had a market capitalization of $6.9 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.wholefoodsmarket.com .

Dollar Tree, Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, had a market capitalization of $6.4 billion at the time of ranking. For more information on the company, please visit their website at www.DollarTree.com .